Thermoplastic sill and door seal



Aug. 27, 1940. .1. s; REID THERMOPLASTIC SILL 4ND DOOR SEAL Filed Oct. 12, 1957 INVENTOR JAMES S. REID HIS ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 27, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE THERMOPLASTIC SILL. AND DOOR SEAL tion of Ohio Application October 12, 1937, Serial No. 168,621

8 Claims.

This invention relates to a combined sill or scuff plate and sealing strip for use in connection with automobile door openings and the like.

The preferred embodiment discloses a strip of thermoplastic material which extends along the lower corner of the door jamb and provides a snugly fitting trim member. This trim member also serves as a support for a sealingstrip of resilient material which engages the entire length of the lower edge of the door when it is closed.

Prior sills for automobile door openings are made of metal which has several serious objections. One of the principal objections to the use of such metal sills lies in the fact that the metal becomes dented and badly marked with use. If the plate were made of steel, the wearing surface would soonbecome rusted in places and present an unattractive appearance.

Furthermore, the expense and difficulty ofv manufacturing andinstalling these metal sills is a serious problem, particularly where the door jamb is curved. In such instances, a separate die is required to properly shape the plate. Such a die adds to the expense of manufacture.

Another serious objection to metal sill plates is that these plates become very smooth and slippery in time and consequently present a source of injury to passengers entering or leaving the automobile.

The above diificulties and objections have been overcome by the use of the present thermoplastic sill as will be apparent from the following description.

One of the important objects, therefore, of the present invention is to provide a thermoplastic sill for automobile door openings which will al ways present an attractive appearance, even after being subjected to severe usage and wear.

Another important object is to provide such a sill plate which can be made and'installed at less cost than the usual plates made of metal.

A correlative object is to provide a sill of thermoplastic material which will reduce the number of injuries to persons caused by slipping when entering or leaving the car.

A more specific object is to provide a combined sill and weather seal, the seal being designed'so that it will partially carry the eccentric load on the door hinges and also relieve the load on the anti-rattlers along the strike sideof the door and jamb.

Other objects will become apparent from a consideration of. the following specification and accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of an automobile showing the present invention in installed position;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional View 'of the com- 5 bined scuff plate and door seal; and

Fig.3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing the .door in closed position on the seal.

Referring to the drawing, the invention discloses a door sill I made of thermoplastic matel0 rial which is shaped in the form of an angle. The sill fits around the corner of. the bottom edge of the door j amb and provides a neat trim member therefor when the door is open.- One leg or flange 2 of the angle shaped sill is disposed sub- 15 stantially horizontal, The exposed portion of this leg presents a relatively hard and self-sus taining wearing surface which can always be kept neat in appearance in spite of any deep scratches thereon. If. desired, this surface can 20 be easily and quickly reconditioned to its original smooth quality by a bufiing operation.

A metal surface which has become scratched or dented with use would be much more diflicult and expensive to recondition than the thermo- 5 plastic scufi plate. It is most desirable, however, to allow this wearing surface to remain rough 'because such a roughened surface reduces the tendency for a persons foot to slip and cause an injury. Instead of the wearingflsurface be- 30 coming smooth and slipping, as in the case of. a metal sill, this thermoplastic sill becomes roughened more with usebecause of the nails in the' shoes or the grit clinging to the shoe sole.

This thermoplastic wearing surface on the leg 35 2 therefore offers a higher coeflicient of friction than the usual metal sills. Consequently, likelihood of injuries, such as can result from persons slipping on sills is greatly reduced by employment of. thermoplastic material instead of metal. 40

The other leg or flange 3 of the sill plate is directed substantially downwardly and lies along the outer vertical edge of the door jamb. This flange 3 is generally U-shapedor of channel form and comprises a pair of horizontally spaced wall 45 portions 4 and 5, which are connected at their lower ends by an integral transverse portion 6. The portions 4 and 5 of the flange 3 serve to mount the sill to the vehicle and also as a support for the weather seal which will hereinafter 50 be described.

This thermoplastic sill plate can be inexpensively manufactured by the extrusion process or by the injection molding process. The plate can easily be shaped to fit the contour of the jamb 55 after it has been formed and even though a compound curve is required. If a fitting operation is required, the strip may be rendered pliable by subjecting it to'a bath of steam or hot water prior to mounting so that it can be easily bent without disturbing the shape of. the section. An example of material having the above capabilities is cellulose acetate.

A pre-formed metal sill plate, however, requires expensive dies to bend it to the proper shape, and thenoftentimes a subsequent fitting is required. Such a pre-formed metal section cannot be easily bent again to accommodate an irregular curve without destroying the originalv shape of the section.

In order to provide an air-tight connection between the door and jamb, a pre-formed channel-shaped rubber or felt sealing strip 8 is mounted on the flange 3. One side or anchoring portion 9 of the channel-shaped strip is disposed between the spaced portions 4 and 5, and the other -side or wing portion l overlies the portion and normally bulges outwardly therefrom, as best shown in Fig. 2.

This sill plate I and rubber sealing channel 8 are mounted as a unit on the, frame I2 of the vehicle by means of screws M which pass through the flange 3 and the side 9. The heads of the screws are concealed by the overlying side ll) of the sealing channel and are conveniently accessible by bending this side outwardly.

The edge of the side I0 normally engages a surface E5 of the lower side of the jamb. This jamb surface is preferably made rigid with the frame 12 in any convenient manner, such as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

The sealing channel 8 provides an air and dustproof seal around the lower edge surfaces [8 and I 9 of a door 20 and also acts as a support for the door, which prevents the hinges from being subjected to heavy eccentric loads when the vehicle is in motion. Thus, when the door isclosed,

, the surface I9 first strikes the bulged side portion ll] of the sealing channel, causing this portion to straighten out and lie flat thereagainstr The lower 'edge of the side l0 rests in engagement with the rigid surface I5 so that the upper edge of this side moves upwardly as the side Ill be-,

comes straightened. This upward movement of the upper edge causes the channel-shaped seal to also bear against the surface l8, thus providing a tight seal between the lower edge of the door and the jamb and also resiliently supporting the door, whereby to partially relieve the hinges from eccentric stresses occasioned by jolting of the vehicle.

In addition to providing a seal and a resilient support for the door, this sealing channel. serves to prevent slipping. The intermediate portion of the weather seal between-the sides 9 and I 0 lie substantially flush with the surface of flange 2 of the sill plate. Thus, as a person steps on the sill, a portion of his foot engages the rubber weather seal and assists the thermoplastic sill in resisting the tendency for the foot to slip.

Such a condition is shown in Fig. 2.

From the above description, it is apparent that an improved sill plate and sealing strip has been provided which is less expensive to manufacture and install than the usual metal sill plates; It

is less hazardous than metalsill plates because it presents a higher friction surface, and a passenger entering or leaving a vehicle is much less liable to slip and become injured. Furthermore,

the sealing strip, in addition to providing an air tight joint between the door and jamb, also provides a resilient support along the full width of the door and also helps to prevent persons from slipping on the sill.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A friction sill for vehicle door openings comprising an angle strip of relatively hard and nonyielding thermoplastic material, said strip having a horizontal flange portion presenting an exposed wearing surface,anda vertical flange, a U-shaped friction sealing strip mounted inwardly from the vertical flange so that it is supported and held in shape by the vertical flange, said sealing strip having a portion substantially flush with said horizontal flange.

2. In an automobile vehicle having a door opening anda door hingedly supported on one side of said opening, a sill of thermoplastic material mounted on the lower portion of the door opening, said sill comprising a horizonal flange having an exposed wearing surface and a vertical flange mounted onthe vehicle for supporting the sill, with a flexible, channel-shaped weather seal, one side of the channel-shaped weather seal being rigidly fixed to the vertical flange, the other side of the seal being free and flexible with the extreme edge of said other side resting on the lower face of the door opening, and the intermediate portion of said weather seal being normally substantially flush with the horizontal flange whereby to provide a friction tread portion when the door is open and also to provide a resilient support along the lower edge of the door when the door is closed.

3. A vehicle body sill plate comprising an elongated member of organic plastic material having a flange adapted to be disposed substantially horizontally in a door opening so as to provide a scuff plate and a depending flange integral with the aforesaid flange, and having outwardly and then upwardly extending portions, and having a door-sealing strip secured between the downwardly and upwardly extending flange portions of the sill plate by a fastener passed through the last mentioned flange portions and said door sealing strip.

4. A vehicle body sill plate comprising an elongated member having a flange adapted to be disposed substantially horizontally in a door opening so as to provide a scuff plate and a depending flange integral with the aforesaid flange, and having outwardly and then upwardly extending portions, whereby a door-sealing strip can be secured between the downwardly and upwardly extending flange portions of the sill plate by a fastener passed through the last mentioned flange portions and said door sealing strip.

5. A scuff plate for the generally vertical outer 1 face of the floor sill of an automobile or the like below a door opening thereof, said scufi plate comprising a rigid channel member open at its top and adapted to be secured to said floor sill,

with the inner side wall of said channel member for resilient sealing engagement with the bottom edge portion of the door for said door opening.

6. A scuff plate for an automobile or the like at the bottom of a door opening thereof, said automobile or the like being provided at the bottom of said door opening with a generally horizontal portion and a generally vertical portion, said scufi plate comprising a generally rigid channel member open at its top and adapted to be secured to said automobile or the like, with the inner wall of said channel member along the generally vertical portion of said automobile or the like, said channel member when so secured to said automobile or the like having its top opening adjacent the generally horizontal portion of said automobile or the like, the inner wall of said channel member having an inwardly extending top flange adapted to overlie a part of the generally horizontal portion of said automobile or the like, and a resilient member having an anchoring portion secured in the channel of said channel member and also having a depending wing portion for resilient sealing engagement with the bottom edge portion of the door for said door opening.

7. A scuif plate for an automobile or the like at the bottom of a door opening thereof, said automobile or the like being provided at the bottom of said door opening with a generally hori zontal portion and a generally vertical portion, said scuii' plate comprising a generally rigid channel member open at its top and adapted to be secured to said automobile or the like, with the inner wall of said channel member along the generally vertical portion of said automobile or the like, said channel member when so secured to said automobile or the like having its top opening adjacent the generally horizontal portion of said automobile orthe like, the inner wall of said channel member having an inwardly extending top flange for seating engagement on the generally horizontal portionof said automobile or the like, and a resilient member having an anchoring portion secured in the channel of said channel member and also having a depending wing portion of outwardly bowed form for resilient sealing engagement with the bottom edge portion of the door for said door opening.

8. A scuff plate for an automobile or the like at the bottom of a door opening thereof, said automobile or the like being provided at the bottom of said door opening with a generally horizontal portion and a generally vertical portion, said scuif plate comprising a generally rigid channel member open at its top and adapted to be secured to said automobile or the like, with the inner wall of said channel member along the generally vertical portion of said automobile or the like, said channel member when so secured to said automobile or the like having its top opening adjacent the generally horizontal portion of said automobile or the like, and a resilient member having an anchoring portion secured in the channel of said channel member and also having a depending wing portion covering the outer wall of said channel member for resilient sealing engagement with the bottom edge portion of the door for said door opening.

JAMES 8; RED. 

